NEW YORK -- The words "Red Sox" and "must win" will be used in the same sentence during the next few days as the club returns to Fenway in search of its first victory in the American League Championship Series.

"We'll regroup (Thursday) and go home for three and see if we can get back in this," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We really have no other choice but to look forward to the next game. That's what's in our control now. We've been handling it that way the whole year, so we'll begin to do that."

The Red Sox will be counting on right-hander Bronson Arroyo to do something Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez could not -- beat the Yankees. He may not be considered the team's ace, but the club sure is hoping he will pitch like it.

Behind the numbers
Damon was hitless in his first three at-bats Wednesday but he made Jon Lieber work to get him out. Of the 69 pitches Lieber threw during the first six innings, 22 of them were to Damon -- including a 16-pitch at-bat in the sixth. Lieber threw 82 pitches in the game. Damon finished 0-for-4 again, including a strikeout with a runner at third base in the eighth inning.

Frozen moment
The 106th pitch has been a mystical one for Pedro Martinez this season. That trend continued Wednesday, when John Olerud hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning for a 3-0 Yankees lead on Martinez's 106th pitch. This season, when Martinez threw at least 106 pitches, he held batters to a .222 batting average. Last season, batters hit .364 at 106 pitches or more.

Slick move
Francona knows Martinez only has so much left in his right arm and is not going to push him. Martinez was pulled after giving up four hits and three runs in 113 pitches during his six innings. Martinez is available to pitch on short rest if necessary.

Slow-start Sox
All eight of the Red Sox's runs have come in the seventh inning or later, and 14 of the team's 15 hits in the ALCS have been tallied in the final three innings of each game.

ALCS fast fact
A team falling behind 0-2 in a League Championship Series has lost 13 consecutive series in LCS play since 1985. The Red Sox have also fallen behind 0-2 in the ALCS in 1988,
'90, and '99.

Last word
"[Martinez] was in line for an outstanding outing, but we didn't have anything on the board. If we score five or six, we are in here talking about how well he threw and patting him on the back. We didn't do anything offensively."
-- Francona

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.